SpaceVenture Update #116: Two Guys SpaceVenture

Hey everyone! We know this is another long awaited update, but we were holding off because we were hoping to be able to confirm a few things, such as our upcoming voice over recording session with our voice actors along with when we plan to let you all beta test. Alas, we are not quite 100% on those dates yet, but hopefully soon. Rest assured, once I have got those dates for you, we’ll do another update and have it out there in the open.

The good news is, we are almost there! Believe it or not, we are on the road for finishing this game up, and when it’s released, it will be done right with all the correct amount of tender love and care(not to mention blood, sweat, and tears) it deserves!

WHAT’S NEW?

As mentioned in a previous update, one of the last remaining areas of the game, has you visiting an interstellar fan convention known as “Andromecon”. This is a beautifully created sequence in the game that features all kinds of creatures dressed up as their favorite characters from all sorts of movies and video games, a lot of which, as an earthling, you’ll hopefully recognize.

Below is a screenshot of Rooter hanging around the convention floor while Centari Corporations baby man CEO Milo Forbin discusses the companies latest creation, the “Facebox”.

We also wanted to show you all some video footage of this scene taking place in action. In this video you will see Rooter navigating part of the Andromecon convention floor. Keep a close eye for some fun SciFi pop culture references milling about. There is quite a few in there! You’ll also notice another SpaceVenture character that we have showed in the past.. Office Quicksilver!

I thought you guys would enjoy hearing from Mark on some of his design choices for creating the Andromecon sequence.

Mark Crowe:

Hi Gang-

Heres a peek behind the scenes of a short animated sequence I needed in the game.

In our story, Centari Corp produces a VR game console called the ‘Facebox’. From the beginning, the concept for this Facebox appliance was to have a sleek appearance but with something sinister about it under the hood. To reinforce the sinister aspect, we wanted to show Faceboxes being mass produced on an assembly line. The point was to reveal their menacing skeletal innards being encased in a more user-friendly outer shell. The video reveals a little bit of how the effect was achieved.

We used 2D pre-rendered artwork (as with the rest of the game) but mapped it onto simple 2.5D shapes to enhance the illusion of depth. I wanted the outer shell to look like it was actually being 3D printed over the skeleton. To achieve that effect we used a nifty ‘invisible mask’ shader on a flat quad that hides the 3D shell mesh from the camera. But as we animate the invisible mask shape downward, it exposes the shell mesh as it passes through it. Hopefully what I’m trying to describe is more clear in the video.

https://youtu.be/GoHMVfAwbWsI really had a good time putting this little sequence together for the game and just figuring out how to make it work was a fun challenge. Kinda like solving an adventure game puzzle. 🙂

As an added treat, here is some early concepts from artist Brent Forest (and yours truly) showing the evolution of the Facebox appliance.

My initial concept

Brents awesome sketches. Very disturbing. Brent captured the menace perfectly. But who in their right mind would wilfully strap one those to their face, right? So we dialed it back. But then reintroduced the alien-like menace by showing the inner workings of the Facebox in the assembly line sequence.

Image from a April fools Press release we did in 2016

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RESULTS FROM BACKER VOTING

You guys that backed high enough, got to do a vote on your favorite three villains to be part of the Centari Corporations Executive Staff. The results are in: